Clinton money

As a requirement of Hillary's candidacy for Secretary of State, Bill Clinton has released a list of the major donors to his foundation. Unsurprisingly (at least to me), the list includes a number of unsavory types. Before the mainstream media bury this story, here are a few details, from an article by Jacob Laksin at FrontPage Magazine:

-- Issam Fares, a former deputy prime minister of Lebanon, is an outspoken advocate of Hizbollah. He has denied that Hizbollah was responsible for the 1983 bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beurut; his pro-Syrian tilt has won him a decoration from the Syrian government.

-- The Saudis have been the biggest donors, contributing between $10 and $25 million. In addition, a pro-Saudi advocacy group, Friends of Saudi Arabia, contributed between $1 and $5 million. Note that the Saudis typically give only to charities for Muslims - not to those that also help non-Muslims.

-- The Dubai Foundation gave between $1 and $5 million; other grants of theirs have gone to pay off the families of Palestinian and Hezbollah suicide bombers.

Laksin concludes: "...given [Clinton's] foundation's declared mission to promote 'racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation,' how can he justify his willing association with governments that routinely abuse himan rights and fuel sectarian violence? Further, in light of the Clinton foundation's dependency on such donors, what assurances will Hillary Clinton provide that her husband's philanthropic interests will not stand in the way of the nation's diplomatic priorities?"

At least we now know details about the funding - details Bill Clinton had refused to divulge.